Should you speed up your car purchase as Trump imposes metal tariffs?

U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs are coming in a month. Some auto experts are advising Canadian consumers to accelerate their car-buying plans in response.

Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to impose costly tariffs on steel and aluminum, some automotive experts are advising Canadians in the market for a new or used vehicle to accelerate their timelines to get ahead of possible price hikes.

“If you’re going to buy a car sometime in 2025, it would probably be good to speed it up. One hundred per cent,” says Baris Akyurek, vice-president of insights and intelligence at online marketplace AutoTrader.

Others warn that even signed orders come with uncertainty, and improvements in the state of the North American auto industry can provide a buffer of sorts to those buying a new vehicle in the weeks ahead.

Trump signed an order late Monday to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports coming into the U.S., including from Canada, a key metals supplier to the States. The new rules are set to take effect on March 12.

But he might not stop at steel and aluminum inputs — Trump also floated placing tariffs of between 50 and 100 per cent on all Canadian-made vehicles entering the U.S. during a Monday evening interview on Fox News.

The moves come less than a week after Canada seemingly secured a 30-day pause on blanket tariffs covering all Canadian exports to the U.S. amid renewed promises to address Trump’s concerns at the border.

Trump previously imposed import taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum during his first term in office back in 2018. Those restrictions lasted for nearly a year until Canada, the U.S. and Mexico signed a renegotiated trade deal.

Canada’s automotive industry is particularly vulnerable to steel and aluminum tariffs, experts warn.